The court had previously heard a series of text messages between Storey and Ms McAuley in the months leading up to her death have been read out to the jury.

The messages, part of a total of more than 21,000 messages and calls between them from August 2015 and January 2017, included conversations between the two on occasions after Ms McAuley was allegedly assaulted by Storey on previous occasions.

She refers to having had a “broken face” and being “broken inside”.

She states: “You will always be a liar, a cheat and a woman beater”.

Other messages from Ms McAuley read out to the jury of seven men and five women include: